WhatsApp Is Not as Safe as We Think – Founder of Telegram Says

Most of us have not sent a text message for a very long time, one of the major reason is that we are relying more on social media apps especially WhatsApp. Adding stickers, emoji, GIFs and voice notes have made communication through WhatsApp, interesting and convenient for everyone. It is known to be one of the leading messaging apps that is growing like a wildfire. However, recently WhatsApp is considered to be in deep waters because of its ties with the popular social media website Facebook. A few years back, WhatsApp was bought by Facebook and since then everything that has affected Facebook has also been affecting WhatsApp in one way or the other. The recent problem that has raised a million questions is the privacy scandal that Facebook has to go through.

According to the founder of Telegram that with the use of WhatsApp the user might be infecting their cell phones with spyware. After Facebook had to openly confess the data breach, WhatsApp also confessed that they have been monitoring the use of data in an attempt to come clean about the privacy and data scandal. Telegram is a rival messaging app that has been created by two brothers, Pavel and Nikolai Durov and has already been banned in Russia because of its strong encryption and other security policies. Telegram has apparently gained 200 million users which make 7% of Russia, however, later the app was banned when the authorities asked the company to provide access to the users' message resulting in a ban on the app in Russia.

---

• Also read: 3 Easy Hacks To Text Someone Via Whatsapp Without Adding Them To Your Contact List

---

In an attempt to inform people about the WhatsApp security policy, Pavel Durov, one of the creators of Telegram published a blog post explaining why WhatsApp will never be a secure messaging service. According to Pavel, WhatsApp has a history and it has evolved from zero encryption messaging services to a service that has security issues that are very strongly linked to the apps used for surveillance purposes. To add more fuel to the fire just in time, WhatsApp openly urged the users to update their app on Tuesday, just to bridge up to the security issue.

Apparently, the bug was allowing the app to be injected with malware that could have been used for spying on journalists, activist, and other celebrities. Duravo also took another jab at WhatsApp by saying that every time they try to fix one malware; they end up creating another. He also said that WhatsApp and Facebook can be forced to create backdoors by authorities in order to bypass the security system. In order to evolve into a privacy-oriented service, WhatsApp might need to take a few steps that may result in risking the market and even standing up to the authorities.


Photo: MattiaMarasco / Getty Images

Read next: Scammers can now gain control of your WhatsApp Account with the help of Fake Verification Codes/Links!